It’s March 5th. You know what that means? I’m thinking about Christmas! Or at least Hallmark ornaments. ‘Tis the time of cheap ornaments from past years on secondary markets (ebay, amazon, etc). In another month or so the dreambook will be out, and the time when news of this year’s collections begin to leak.

For the first time ever I joined the keepsake ornament club (KOC). It’s a $25 membership (~$31 with tax and shipping), and you can get 2 of 3 ornaments for ‘free’ in the cost of the membership. The other perks, like sneak peaks, aren’t really worth it to me since the news always leaks online in a few days. Normally I don’t like the ‘free’ ornaments, or I like only one of the three, so I don’t have much incentive to join.

This year I saw a promo with the special KOC only ornaments. That Mice Cream Sundae? In the words of Nicole: an emphatic “WANT!” followed by a frantic “PWESE!”. The grandfather clock is sure to be a Domingo favorite. He loves the old fashioned Santa’s, sleighs, and yes, grandfather clocks. That makes two exclusive ornaments we wanted for effectively ~$15.50 each Typical prices for similar ornaments would be $13.95, or ~$15.20 including tax. Not too bad a deal if you ask me.

I started poking around the secondary markets as well. I found a spare Baby’s First Christmas 2012 – for just $6 on ebay! We decided to bid on it, as I like to have a spare of major milestone type ornaments. I realize I may be breaking one of the cardinal rules of eBay shopping by mentioning a good price auction before it closes, but, what the hey, I’ll live dangerously.

This year marks five years of collecting Hallmark ornaments. Five! I’m going to need a bigger Christmas tin. And a bigger tree!

Posted in Shopping | Tags: Hallmark